Larry Disbro will play John Stephen Casement and Vince Wilson will act the role of Jonathan Goldsmith for the annual cemetery tour at Evergreen Cemetery in Painesville.

Much of the rich and varied lore of Lake County can be found in its cemeteries, many of which have graves dating to the Civil War and even earlier.

Local folks found the graveyard tours hosted by the Lake County History Center so fascinating that an uproar ensued eight years ago when the labor-intensive tours were canceled.

"Our volunteers, most of whom love history, really get into staging these tours," said Kathie Purmal, executive director of the Painesville Township-based Lake County History Center. "Because they aren't on our grounds, we're able to elaborate on the stories of the folks buried in the cemeteries and mix it up with burial customs of the past and even jokes."

The "Myths. Legends and Graveyard Tours" have won several state-level awards for museum public programming and always have sold out. They involve costumed volunteers awaiting at graves in different cemeteries to portray long-dead occupants for those who arrive by bus. The history center must carefully coordinate the grave visits with cemetery officials, and the tours are very labor-intensive to stage. One year the history center let the public know when and where the buses would be arriving and discovered people waiting at the cemeteries who hadn't paid for tickets.

Advertisement

"Cemetery officials had a fit," Purmal said. "We knew then that we would have to get better control of the tours if we were going to keep them."

The tours involve more than 50 people, hours of research and careful costuming, she said, and each year the history center begins to get calls in August from people checking to see if they will take place.

"We change out the characters and the cemeteries every year, so it's a new experience for those who have come before," Purmal noted.

Those joining in Saturday's tour of a Painesville cemetery will meet the girl who married and divorced the richest man in town but continues to watch her mansion from her grave, and another who died within months of her greatest triumph. Stories told will range from tragic to awe-inspiring and will include a wolf hunter, soldiers and a pair of bag ladies.

In fact, the Roddick sisters, as they were known during their lives in Painesville, were women from a wealthy family who lived in a big house but dressed in clothing they found in other people's trash.

"People love the Roddick sisters," Purmal said. "So even though they've been in other tours, they'll be back again this year."

The Willoughby cemetery tour, taking place Oct. 20, will introduce a young woman who came to Willoughby alone and died under mysterious circumstance and show a grave connected to Stan Hywety Hall in Akron and the Frank Lloyd Wright house in Willoughby Hills. The findings of a well-known local ghost hunter will be presented, and attendees will hear about strange burial practices of other times.

New this year is a collaboration with the Fine Arts Association in Willoughby that gives an opportunity to take a graveyard tour, return to Willoughby for dinner and then attend a presentation of "Deathtrap" at Fine Arts.

Die Laughing packages are offered Oct. 20 and Oct. 27, when those signed up will be picked up at 2 p.m. at Fine Arts for the cemetery tour and be returned there are 4:30 p.m. Guests can then either have dinner on their own using coupons for restaurants in Willoughby or join others for a group Italian dinner at Dino's. All guests will return to the Fine Arts theater by 7 p.m. for the 7:30 curtain time for "Deathtrap."

That Tony Award-nominated play holds the record for the longest-running comic thriller on Broadway. Its unpredictable twists and turns take the audience on a wildly suspenseful joy ride.

Although both the graveyard tours and the tour with theater package are intended for adults, there's nothing gruesome or scary about either.

Only a few tickets for the Die Laughing package remain, however, so those interested in seeing the play might need to be content with another performance during the Oct. 19-to-28 run of the production.

"Myths, Legends and Graveyard Tours"

The two-and-a-half hour tours depart at 1, 1:30, 2, 3:15, 3:45 and 4:15 p.m. Saturday from the Lake County History Center, 415 Riverside Drive, Painesville Township, for the Painesville tour and at those same times on Oct. 20 for the Willoughby tour.

Tours with the package and the Willoughby Cemetery depart at 2 p.m. Oct. 20 and 27 from the Fine Arts Association, 38660 Mentor Ave., Willoughby.

Tour-only price is $28 for nonmembers. Die Laughing packages, which include the graveyard tour and the play "Deathtrap," cost $40 per person. Those who would like to join the Italian dinner at Dino's between the tour and the play will pay $58.